Best Laid Plans
by thesassylorax
Summary: [Chapter Two is here!] Mike and Celia's baby has been born, but it is revealed the child isn't even Mike's. As he grips to come to terms with the fact Celia was unfaithful, he also needs to realize and choose what he's going to do in regards to the new baby who, he realized by now, is Randall's son and not his own.
1. Chapter 1

This story was inspired, and authorized, by the incredibly talented artist named Lozo. Her tumblr is myrobotlandlord and I highly recommend you check out her art tag!

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Of course everyone had been excited when they learned that Celia was expecting her and Mike's first child. Babies always brought out the best in monsters, after all. The news spread throughout the company, friends and family were informed, and it didn't take long for the couple to be smothered with well wishes for the bouncing baby when he, or she, would eventually arrive.

Mike thought nothing of it, though, when Randall seemed to distance himself even further from the collection of monsters when he learned the news. The lizard had scoffed and snorted, saying why would he care if Mike was reproducing? In fact, he had added, that was one image he hadn't wanted invading his mind but now it had taken root and would never be shaken free.

"Figures that even Randall can't get excited over the idea of a baby."

Maybe he should have taken better notice of Randall's actions, how he would look at either Mike or Ceila as the months began to slowly pass. The lizard monster continued on his daily routine but he had become unnaturally quiet. The hateful banter he would send Sulley and Mike's way seemed to have dried up almost instantly like a river in a heat wave.

Sure he'd glance at them, frown and glare but no longer would Mike have to worry about the lizard monster pulling his invisibility act on him in the locker rooms any more. Honestly, at the time, it was a blessing.

More than once Sulley had seen Randall talking to Ceila at the reception desk in the lobby. Celia seemed to be wanting none of this conversation, not even looking at him, while the multi-legged monster kept trying to talk. When he had approached to intervene Randall had spat something like "Keep your fat nose outta other people's business, Sullivan!" before storming off.

When questioned as to what was going on, Celia said she didn't know but Randall had been acting 'incredibly irrational' lately so she wasn't going to give him any of her time thank you very much. After all Celia was a very tough lady monster, and she didn't take anything from anyone if she didn't want it.

And pity to the monster who pushed her too hard. Maybe it was part of that which Mike found so wonderful about her, that she wasn't weak willed or simpering. Add to that he thought she was the most beautiful monster on the face of the planet helped, too.

* * *

Sulley had been sleeping peacefully in his big, comfortable bed when his phone began shrieking off of its hook besides him. The polka-dotted monster snorted awake violently, tossing the blankets back and sat up bolt right, fur standing on end as the phone continued to make its shrill noise. He didn't have to question why it was ringing, not at all, since he knew it was around 'that' time for Celia.

How fast the months had flown.

Answering the phone he discovered a panic-stricken Mike saying how it was time and Celia was having the baby and wow he needed Sulley to be there now for this momentous occasion because no way would his best friend in the world miss out on the birth of his kid. So naturally after such a jarring wake up at two in the morning, Sulley had raced to the hospital (on foot since unlike Mike he did not own a car) to be there.

"What're you doing out here, I thought you'd be in there, doing the whole supportive dad thing?" Sulley asked, partly out of breath, as he had arrived at the hospital to see Mike sitting outside. To say Mike didn't look rattled was an understatement.

Months of waiting had led up to this. They had painted a room up, gotten the furniture, toys, blankets, diapers, and other such things that you needed when babies happened. And now the day was here, and Mike's single eyed expression said so much about the excitement, as well as fear, he now felt.

"Hah yeah Celia said she could do it alone and all I'd do was get in the way. I dunno how but. You know how she is!" Mike had said, trying to appear calm, though that laughter was very nervous indeed.

"Ah relax Mike, it's gonna do fine and by.. I dunno. Sun up you're gonna be a new dad! Isn't that great?" he asked as he sat down besides the smaller monster, patting his back in a supportive manner.

"Yeah. You're right! I'm gonna be the best dad in the world! What have I got to worry about?"

Turns out, he had something to worry about a lot. His name was called, the nurse had a mixed expression of joy but also maybe concern but Mike did not see it, how could he? The baby was here! His baby, was it a girl, a boy, he was too excited to ask.

Either way it turned out the baby had been already taken aside to be weighed and washed while Celia was recovering in the bed. Of course Mike rushed to her immediately to ask how she was, taking hold of one of her tentacle hands.

"Smoochpsie pooh, how are you, did it all go fine?" he asked quickly.

"Oh you know..." she laughed, weakly, her snake hair even flopped down on the pillow looking tired and exhausted as she did. "Just had a baby so...!" did Ceila look worried? It was hard to tell around her exhaustion.

"Yes where is she? Or he?" Mike was besides himself.

"Mister Wazowski?" a nurses voice caught his attention and he spun around to see a looming nurse with a horn on her nose and pale blue coloring. That nurses outfit didn't seem to suit or fit her too well but hey, who cared about that when she was holding a swaddling new-born in a blue blanket?

"Here's your baby, Mister Wazowski." she said, and had to bend over in order to hold the new-born to Mike.

He was excited. Of course he was, he felt like his heart could all but burst out of his chest. His son, his new-born son was going to be in his arms and he will be the most handsomest baby ever because it was his and Celia's and-

"Uh."

Mike's expression changed to one of confusion. The nurse was holding a baby out to him yes, but the baby looked nothing like what he would expect it to. For one, he would have anticipated one singular eye like him and Celia. Maybe baby snake hair? Of course there'd be no horns since new-born monsters are never born with horns they tend to grow in with their teeth.

But this baby well... it looked ike Randall. A lot like Randall. It was, quite literally, a new-born version of Randall only it had sets of two thin blue stripes that ran along the three head prongs atop its head, and its two sets of forearms which were squirming against the blanket as its bulging lizard eyes began to slowly open.

"Uh. Excuse me but um... this is not my baby?" surely this was either some kind of honest accident or a sick joke.

"Yes. It is." the nurse growled with little to no room for argument and handed the squirming baby lizard monster into Mike's arms.

Mike looked down at the baby, whose green eyes had slowly pried open to peer up at Mike. Slowly a chubby hand reached up and batted at Mike's face, already drooling. He stared for a moment longer before slowly turning around to look at Celia, who was looking away.

"...I get a feeling you got something to tell me." Mike said, voice surprisingly calm, and level-headed despite the raging volcano that was threatening to burst. But no, he couldn't shout here. He was holding a new-born, and screaming about anything wouldn't be the most ideal first experience of the world, would it?

Very slowly did Celia turn to look at him. The birth of her first child should have been filled with tears of joy and relief. To having birthed her child who was healthy and happy and Mike would be proud as any monster could possibly be but... no. Of course she felt some joy, she had made that little boy in Mike's arms but it wasn't Mike's son. Not in the least.

"Mmh." she nodded her head once.

"Well. You better... ah. Start from the beginning." Mike very awkwardly moved to sit besides the bed, the baby still moving only now it was sucking on one of its hands. "This.. this is Randall's, isn't it?" he asked, slowly.

Again, Celia only nodded.

"What are you. Are you cheating on-"

"No! No, no, no Michael no." she looked at him now, her snake heads eyes wide like her singular one at such a proposition. "I swear it only happened once and that was it."

"Really, huh. Y'know believing you used to be real easy but." Mike glanced down at the baby, moving a hand so he tugged its little hand out of its mouth. It was covered in slobber. "Now I don't know.."

"Googly Bear please," Celia said, voice shaking as she shifted in her bed weakly from the pain still fresh in her body. "It was at that stupid office party, the one you missed because you were sick. We just...! There was alcohol and we were arguing and, and next thing I even knew it was over. I told him not to tell you. He told ME not to tell you either."

Which was strange because Randall would normally take any chance to one up Mike, or Sulley. Knowing he had slept with Mike's wife, why hadn't he taken that to town? But he didn't. Instead he had distanced himself from Mike, Sulley, seemingly everyone. Was it possible he felt actual shame about the act?

"...so.." Mike looked down at the baby once more who, now, was chewing on the blanket that it had been wrapped in. Frowning slightly, Mike tugged the sopping material away before the baby choked on it. "stop that." he whispered to it before he spoke again, to Celia. "This is Randall's."

"Yes I... I was hoping it. It wouldn't be. I really, really hoped I was pregnant with yours but.. oh..." she turned her face away, lifting her tentacle hands to her face and covered her eye while her snake hair curled in against one another in equal shame.

She couldn't take this any more, the stress, the worry, the anxiety and finally the fact her one and only moment of weakness had produced her first child took its toll out on her and she began to sob.

Mike sat there, watching the woman he loved more than anyone in the whole world, crumble before him. He'd seen the stress, and the worry, on her face but he wrote it up as first time mother fears. Fear of pain, of mistakes, of the birth. Only now in hindsight did he realize it wasn't that which she had been fearing. She had been afraid as to just who the father of the baby would be and it turned out to not be the one she wanted.

Any other monster may well have gotten to their feet and left. Set the wriggling, beginning to fuss, baby down and leave at having such a thing happen.

He got to his feet, and moved to the small bassinet that the nurses had left. Mike eased the baby into it and momentarily stared at it. It was definitely Randall's child, that reptilian body, the multiple limbs, and eyes. Celia's sobs drew him away and he climbed up onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling the slender woman in for an embrace she felt she didn't rightly deserve but needed.

He felt her shaking arms cling to him as her body was rocked by the emotions, but no words came to him to offer her. No whispers of reassurances or promises, nor even admissions of love.

All he could do was hold her.

_**To be continued**_


	2. Chapter 2

Sulley stood in the hospital hall way, staring blankly through the glass that showed through to the room where the new born monsters were set on display. Each lay in their own special bassinet, pink or blue blankets covering them, indicating the genders.

There was one baby with two heads, which brought back memories of Terri and Terry from University. He momentarily thought what they were up to now. But his mind, straining from what it was seeing, focused once more.

Mike and Celia's baby was not what he had expected. Like Mike, he had awaited the arrival of a baby which would have had one eye, possible snake hair, or tentacle arms and legs. Instead what lay in the bassinet with the surname 'Wazowski' on it in bold lettering was a lizard.

The baby, purple with blue stripes on its head prongs, arms, and over its tail, was sucking on the tip of its tail as its two bottom pair of feet kicked at the air. His eyes were squinting, as most new borns eyes were, as he peered around.

Mike's child was not his. Which had explained why his friend hadn't come out of the delivery room, baby in arms to show off to Sulley. He'd been in that room ever since, and it was a nurse in an ill-fitting gown that told him he could come on through to see the baby in the viewing room.

"Oh jeeze." he whispered. If this meant what he thought it meant... Mike's marriage could very well be over already. Or at least in big trouble.

But not as much trouble as Randall was going to find himself in. The polka dotted monster let out a low growl as his hands formed fists, and the tip of his tail curled in on itself. Whose fault was this? Celias? Randalls? Mikes? Had he, in a way, pushed Celia to Randall, somehow?

There were obvious mistakes made and not knowing was making him angrier, and when Sulley was angry, well. One could do little to control his actions.

Luckily, right this moment, a deterrent to his anger had appeared. He spotted Mike's approaching reflection in the glass and turned around, looking down at his friend who was looking very, very tired. "Mike!" he said, wanting to say something supportive or insightful but he couldn't think of anything. He couldn't ask 'how are you' because it was obvious Mike was not okay, not in the least.

"Surprise, isn't he?" Mike asked, voice uncharacteristically bland, as he had to stand on his toes in order to see through the glass. "He's got Celia's stripes." he added, as an after thought.

"Y... yeah. He does." Sulley said, awkwardly, as he peered in at the baby. A nurse had approached him and removed the tail from is mouth, tucking him in again with the blue blanket which had been wrapping itself around his middle. She smiled down at the baby, smoothed his three prongs, before moving on.

The two friends stood there, side by side, staring down at the baby who squirmed in his blanket before beginning to slowly lull to sleep. Mike, for the most part, was looking at his own reflection which stared back at him, perfectly mirroring the terror, and pain, he was feeling. He still didn't know what to do. What he should, or even could, do.

What were his options? Leave Celia? File for divorce? He loved her. He had loved her since that first date when they'd gotten caught in the rain and he had attempted to find them somewhere dry to stand. How she'd looked in the rain, so happy despite the rotten turn in the weather. She had the most beautiful laugh, and the fact he had made her smile and laugh at his actions had only cemented his feelings for her.

Even how with his heart breaking at the fact she had spent a moment in the arms of another monster, and the result now lay sleeping soundly in the bassinet among the other new borns, he loved her. And the idea of leaving her was best compared to sawing his arms off. Or ripping his heart out. Impossible to do, and even if he managed, he'd die without her.

"I just can't believe it." the short, green monster finally said, breaking the fairly uncomfortable silence between himself and his best friend. "That. After all this waiting and wanting it to happen... he's here." Mike trailed softly into silence, wanting to add 'but he's not mine' but found the words poison on his tongue.

"Aw Mike." Sulley moved closer, reaching down to place his hand to his friends back. "He's... he's healthy, right?" he asked, trying to find some kind of ray of light to burst through this black cloudy day.

"He is," Mike agreed. "Said he's. Picture of perfect health."

"That's good. Ah... right?" Sulley asked.

And once again they slipped into silence, the two staring in at the baby who was still sleeping soundly in his little bassinet. He looked so much like Randall, it was like a literal slap to the face. A harsh reminder of Ceila's single, only mistake. Sulley didn't know what to say, or what to ask. Was Celia sleeping with Randall on a regular basis? Was this an 'accident'? Had he pushed himself onto Celia, and she'd kept it quiet? No. Randall was a self absorbed jerk who spoke cruelly to everyone but he wasn't that kind of a monster. Even _he_ had limits.

"...so have you uh, thought of a name?"

Sulley's voice broke through the foggish cloud which had taken up Mike's mind, and he turned is gaze up to his friend.

"You never told me, before if you guys had so... does he have a name?" asked Sulley, looking down at Mike, before glancing at he baby, and back again.

"Yeah." Mike replied, almost automatically. "We'd talked it over. On names if it'd be a girl or a boy." he glanced at the newborn who was, once again, beginning to roll the blanket around his middle. "His name is Steve. Steve James Wazowski." at this, he glanced up at Sulley, awaiting his friends reaction. If he'd get one.

It seemed to take Sulley a moment or two to realize what Mike had just said. At hearing the name he nodded his head, Steve was a good name. Strong, easy to remember name. Steve James? ...Steve James. James. His eyes literally bugged out of his eyes a second as he looked down at Mike. "Mike!"

"What?" asked Mike, the first, faintest hint of a smile twitched the corner of his lips. His first smile after the baby's arrival. "A guy can't give his kid his best friend's first name as a middle name?"

"Aw. Mike...!" the towering monster got down onto one knee besides Mike, once again patting his friend's back. "I'm honored. Really, really." even if the baby was... not what they had anticipated... the fact Mike had given his name to his own child like this, and how Celia had agreed. It was a big sign of just how close the two were. "Thank you, Mike."

Mike attempted a smile before he quickly looked through the glass again. The baby, Steve, was crying in his bassinet. He'd been sleeping a second ago but now he was giving out pitiful, weepy sobs as he kicked his feet against the blanket which kept them restrained. Maybe it was too tight for him? Or maybe he was hungry. Or lonely. Or scared? So many options, none of them Mike could tell but he watched as the baby cried, alone, the nurse having just stepped out of the room.

"What-where are, what kind of hospital is this?" Mike demanded, eye narrowing.

"C'mon Mike, I'm sure she's-Mike!" Sulley had been explaining just why the nurse wasn't there immediately but Mike had pulled away from him entirely. Before Sulley could make a grab at his friend, Mike had pulled the door which entered into the room open.

"Mike that's for nurses and doctors!" hissed Sulley as Mike shut the door behind him. He moved back to the glass, watching as Mike made his way over to the fussing baby monster.

"Hey c'mon shhh," Mike shushed gently as he reached down and collected the sobbing baby into his arms. Seems the blanket had been rubbing against one of his little legs in an uncomfortable way, but Steve continued to wail, squirming in Mike's arms before he settled against him, tiny body shaking.

Mike was quiet for a moment, standing here in a room surrounded by other new borns, holding the baby lizard monster whose sobs were beginning to subside if just a little. He'd been drawn to him immediately, hadn't he? Without any second thoughts he'd stormed in here. Why?

"W-what are you doing in here?" the voice of the nurse had Mike turning around to see the monster stood in the door way. "This room is for hospital staff!" she moved forward, arms reaching out to obviously take the baby away from Mike, who immediately stepped back, protectively shielding the trembling baby.

"And he's my _son_!" Mike shot back instinctively, barely aware of the words he had spoken. "And he was crying, all by himself! I ain't paying you medics to let my kid cry alone!" he added, hotly.

He was obviously an unhappy camper, and it took a lot of talking from the nurse to let Mike leave the room with Steve, now properly wrapped in a blanket (not too tightly this time) and take him through to Celia. Sulley watched as Mike exited the room, Steve soundly settled in Mike's arms with his squinting eyes looking up at him.

"...is he doing okay now?" Sulley asked quietly, approaching the other carefully. After all, Steve hadn't seen him before, and a giant lumbering monster could be a little scary to a new born.

"Of course he's doing better now." Mike replied, supporting Steve with one arm, and used his other hand to gently stroke his finger against the baby monster's cheek. He seemed to like it, judging by the tiny smile on his face. Either he was smiling, or gassy though.

Sulley had to smile a bit before he fell into step behind Mike, who began to walk down the hall. It seemed Mike didn't really have a set destination in mind, maybe he was just walking for walking sake. A moment to hold the baby in his arms, walking with his best friend.

"...so how is Celia?" he finally, dared, to ask.

Mike sighed heavily as they walked into a lounge area, and he took a seat near a large window. Sulley sat down besides him, watching as the small green monster looked down at the baby who, still, peered around curiously.

"...she's. Not so good. She's resting now. Pretty much cried herself to exhaustion." Mike explained gently.

"Are... _you_ two okay?" he asked, softly.

"I'd like to think so." Mike admitted. "I love her, Sull. Even. Even with this," he seemed to gesture to the baby, "happening I do. But I don't... think I'm ready to forgive her yet. She says it only happened once, because of alcohol, of all things."

Sulley frowned a little. "Do you believe her?"

Mike didn't know how to answer. A part of him did, another part wasn't sure. He was suddenly so full of insecurities the likes of which he'd never felt before. Instead he pulled Steve a little bit closer, the baby giving out a small noise of comfort and pressed on of his tiny purple hands against Mike's upper lip.

He felt it best not to ask anything else like that. The horned monster sighed, and folded his arms loosely over his chest. There was still the subject of Randall, and what they were going to do. Obviously he'll be informed of the baby, which was technically his child. But would he have any 'rights'? Would he even want them? Would Mike even offer?

If Sulley was in his non-existent shoes he'd deny Randall any and all visitation rights while he try to mend what happened with his partner. But he wasn't Mike, was he? Could he even raise a hand to Randall in anger? Would Randall take it, or challenge him?

Too many questions. Just far too many.

_To be continued_


End file.
